VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball heads into its stretch run of conference play when the Bearcats (8-17, 2-10 America East) host UMass Lowell (11-16, 5-7 AE) at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the Events Center. The Bearcats play two home games in a three-day stretch before finishing the regular season with back-to-back road games next week. 

Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms (17.6 ppg.) willl be honored pregame for reaching the 1,000-point milestone. Sessoms ranks first in the America East in assists (4.8) and is fourth in scoring. He is just one of seven underclassmen across the country to be among his conference top-5 in both scoring and assists.  

Last time out
• On Saturday in Burlington, first-place Vermont was too strong and dealt BU a 76-48 loss — the team's sixth straight defeat
• Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms had 13 points, seven boards and six assists
• Senior Pierre Sarr and freshman George Tinsley had 10 points each
• Vermont led by 13 at the half and shot 55% in the second half to pull away              

About UMass Lowell
• Have won two in a row to move into sixth place in the standings
• On Saturday posted 74-67 win at Hartford, thanks to a game-high 25 points from junior Obadiah Noel. Hartford cut a deficit to just two with less than two minutes left but senior guard Christian Lutete made a layup and Noel and freshman Ron Mitchell combined for seven free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win. UML forced 14 turnovers and outrebounded the Hawks, 31-25.
• Lead America East in scoring (74.1) but rank second-last in defense (76.0)
• Lutete is making a strong case for AE Player of Year. He leads the conference in scoring (19.3) and FG% (50%), is third in 3-point % (37%) and sixth in rebs. (6.9)
 
All-time series vs. UMass Lowell
• UML leads the all-time series, which began in 1999 when both programs were NCAA Division II members of the New England Collegiate Conference,13-5
• UML holds a narrow 5-3 lead in games played in Vestal
• UML has won six of the last seven head-to-head matchups, including an 85-66 win on Jan. 11 in Lowell. Before that, BU swept the season series in 2015-16
• After eight straight games decided by eight or fewer points, the last two have been 15+ margins. Last February in Lowell, BU posted an 81-66 win and then the River Hawks returned the favor last month with a 19-point win. 
• In that most recent game, UML shot 56%, led by 10 at half, got a combined 53 points from its talented duo of Christian Lutete (28) and Obadiah Noel (25) and held all-conference standout Sam Sessoms to just two points.  

Sessoms eclipses 1,000 career points in just 57 games  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms scored 22 points Wednesday against Stony Brook to eclipse the 1,000-point scoring mark in his 57th collegiate game. In the process, he became just the seventh player in the league's 41-year history to reach the 1K mark as a sophomore. Sessoms currently ranks fourth in Div. I era scoring at Binghamton and his career average (17.8 ppg.) puts him in pace to become the program's all-time scoring leader (1,705 pts.) by the end of his junior season. Sessoms is also on pace to surpass the 2,000-point mark by the time he graduates, which would make him a 2K scorer in both high school and college.  

Tinsley has scored in double digits seven straight games
Freshman forward George Tinsley has been on a scoring tear of late. He has produced double-digit points in seven consecutive games and is averaging 14.6 points in that stretch. His 11.6 season scoring average is No. 1 among conference freshmen.

Hjalmarsson featured in AP article about NCAA players from Iceland  
Freshman guard Hakon Hjalmarsson was recently featured in an Associated Press article about the three basketball players from Iceland who are currently playing at Division I (Thorir Thorbjarnarson of Nebraska and Jon Axel Gudmundsson of Davidson). Hjalmarsson scored 12 points in the Feb. 8 game against Maine and is averaging 19 minutes per game. The article link is https://apnews.com/e6e70497dcdecde407e19f0eb7c719ee?utm_medium=AP_Sports&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP_Top25&utm_source=Twitter

Young BU lineup is delivering  
Binghamton is receiving 74% of its offense from underclassmen and its top three scorers are all first or second-year guys.

70 is magic number on offense  
The Bearcats can eye the number 70 on the scoreboard. When BU puts 70 on the board they are 8-3. When the Bearcats score less than 70, they are 0-14.

Bearcats one of youngest teams in nation
Binghamton now is ranked No. 325 in experience (15th youngest team in nation) by KenPom. The team's most common starting lineup shows two freshmen (Mills, Tinsley), a sophomore (Sessoms) and two seniors (Sarr and Caldwell).
 
Sarr selected to Midseason Watch List for Dos Equis 3x3U event
Senior forward Pierre Sarr has been selected as one of 10 seniors from the America East on the Dos Equis 3x3U National Championship Midseason Watch List. The event pits seniors representing all 32 NCAA Division I conferences in a FIBA-sanctioned 3-on-3 event that carries a grand prize of $150,000. This year's event will take place April 3-5 in Atlanta. Last year a squad from the mid-major Colonial Athletic Association won the event.  

Caldwell now plays key role in lineup  
After coming off the bench for much of the season, senior guard Richard Caldwell, Jr. has started the last nine games. In his last seven outings, he is averaging 10.7 points in 31+ minutes of action. He has hit double-figures in four of those seven games. On Feb. 8 against Maine, Caldwell scored a career-high 20 points and he followed that up with 17 points (all in second half) against Stony Brook on Feb. 12.  
 
Bearcats riding 3-point scoring, rank fourth in country in long distance reliance  
BU ranks 23rd in the country in 3-pointers per game (9.5) and 30th in made 3-pointers (238). They have canned 10 or more 3s 11 times this season, including a season-best 15 against Maine on Feb. 8. The Bearcats rank No. 4 in the country in 3-point reliance (Ken Pom), with 43% of their offense coming via the 3-ball.

Bearcats among the America East, NCAA stat leaders  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms leads the America East in assists (4.8/game) and is fourth in scoring (17.6). He also ranks third in minutes (35.2) and fifth in steals (1.5) and 3-pointers per game (2.1). Freshman forward George Tinsley ranks second in the nation in minutes (38:21/game). Tinsley is second in the America East in rebounding (7.8), sixth in blocks (1.2/game) and is the top-scoring freshman in the conference (11.6 ppg.). Senior forward Pierre Sarr is fifth in the AE in rebounding (7.3).    

Tinsley ranks second in nation in minutes played  
Freshman forward George Tinsley led the nation in minutes for the first two months of the season and currently ranks second (38:21). Tinsley has played a full game nine times this season, including all 45 minutes in the overtime win over Boston University on Dec. 7.